


Bedside Manner

by MaliceManaged



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Blood, F/M, Medical Procedures, Pre-Thor (2011)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 17:44:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20568350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaliceManaged/pseuds/MaliceManaged
Summary: Of all the ways Loki pictured coming face to face with the object of his infatuation; being conscripted to assist in a surgery and then having to drop his pants to have an arrow wound seen to was not one of them...





	Bedside Manner

**Author's Note:**

> So many things I could be working on, and instead I finish this that I've had on hold for two years and start yet another one shot I'll probably finish in another two. Ah, well. Enjoy? XD
> 
> I didn't go into much detail about medical stuff (mostly because I don't know wtf I'm talking about and am too lazy to do further research atm), but if dealing with stab wounds triggers you, you might want to skip this one. Just putting that out there. Take care of yourselves, loves.

It had been a slow day for Alda; there were no patients for her to tend to and she was so far ahead in her studies that she had run out of books to read until her aunt and teacher Eir assigned her more, and so the young healer found herself organising the shelves in one of the surgery rooms for lack of anything to do, waiting for _something_ to happen and then feeling guilty for thinking it, as that would mean someone would have to be hurt.

Still, she was very bored. And she detested being bored.

She had been staring at the ceiling, finger idly toying with the end of the braid she kept her long dark hair in, weighing the consequences of sneaking out of the healer’s hall early when she heard a commotion outside. Poking her head out the door, she saw wounded warriors being led or carried into the room and the other healers all in a flurry to see to them all as fast as possible. Quickly, Alda moved back inside the room she was in and began to gather some things in order to work wherever she was needed; just as she turned around to leave Thor and Loki rushed in, carrying a severely wounded Hogun between them.

It took Alda just a moment to determine her course of action and she instructed them to set him down on the surgery table and rid him of as much of his armour as they could manage in a hurry before shooing them aside to begin working. As she began cleaning the wounds as best she could to see the extent of them, Alda realised that, a) there were no other healers coming behind them to assist her and b) both princes were still standing in the room. She barely even thought about it before she snapped her attention to them.

“Don’t just stand there,” she snapped and pointed at Loki. “You; get that basin behind you and fill it with water.” She pointed at Thor. “You; that shelf next to you, get me the blue vial.” They hesitated for a second too long, seeming a little shocked. _“Now!”_

That got them moving and they turned to fulfil their tasks quickly, bringing the requested items. She then ordered Thor to empty the contents of the vial into the bowl and Loki to get clean cloths to soak in it, continuing to work on the mostly unconscious warrior before her. Once the wounds were as clean as they would be she determined which was the most urgent, a stab wound on his side dangerously close to his lung, and used her seidr to determine if any of the blade that caused it had broken off inside, allowing herself a brief moment of relief when she found that wasn’t the case before getting to work.

Halfway through dealing with the wound, Hogun began to seize and she ordered Thor to turn him onto his side lest he hurt himself further. Once the seizure passed and he was on his back again, she moved to his leg, which sported another deep gash and a shard of the weapon that caused it; she swore quietly then turned to Loki.

“Show me your hands,” she demanded. Loki looked at her confusedly but did as she asked. “Good enough. Go wash them over there and come here.” He quickly did as she asked then moved next to her. “When I pull that metal out, I need you to reach into the wound, find the vein and pinch it shut, or he’ll bleed out faster than I can deal with. Understand?”

Loki nodded and moved to replace her as quickly as he could the moment she stepped away to get what she needed to deal with the wound. As she did that another healer walked into the room and gasped at the sight before her, and rushed up to Loki.

“Let me-” was all she managed to say before Alda whirled around to face them.

“Do _not_ let go!” she warned.

“But-” the other healer tried, looking between her and the princes with a faintly horrified expression.

“Get me more bandages,” Alda interrupted as she returned to Loki’s side. When the healer hesitated, she moved around him and physically shoved her in the direction of the door. “Move!”

With that the woman rushed out of the room to do as instructed, remembering her obligations. Alda returned to her previous place and told Loki to let go and move away on her signal, immediately getting to work as he did so.

****

Alda leaned against the table behind her, closing her eyes and letting out a tired sigh. It took a while and some close calls, but finally Hogun was stabilised and sedated, and would make a full recovery. She opened her eyes again as she remembered her impromptu assistants where still in the room and turned to them.

“Are either of you injured?”

They both shook their heads then Thor seemed to remember something and turned to his brother. “Didn’t you take an arrow to the leg?”

Loki blinked, having completely forgotten in all the commotion, and looked down. Sure enough, there was a patch of blood that had soaked into his pants from the wound.

Alda pushed away from the table and walked over to him. “Let me see.”

Loki hesitated, wanting to refuse but having no reason to. Or at least, no reason he wanted to admit aloud. He internally cursed his luck; of course, out of all the healers in the hall, they had to bring Hogun to the one he’d had his eye on for the better part of two decades but never had the nerve to actually approach. In fact, once she’d started apprenticing under Eir, he’d gone so far as to put off having an injury tended to if he knew she’d be there just to avoid having to face her. He knew it was ridiculous, never in his life could he be accused of being _shy_ of all things, but there was just something about Alda that turned him into a hopeless mess of nerves. It had only been the urgency of the situation that kept him in the same room as her at all, and that was over now. Not to mention what he’d have to do so she could tend to his wound, given that the arrow had landed in his thigh...

Yes; Loki truly hated his luck right that moment.

After a moment, Alda rolled her eyes in annoyance. “I am a healer; trust me, you don’t have anything I have not already seen,” she deadpanned.

That... did not help matters at all, only serving to worsen his embarrassment. Thor choked on the laugh he desperately tried to suppress and Loki shot him a glare that promised revenge as soon as this whole thing was over.

The older prince was not looking forward to that; he still remembered the _last_ time well enough. He didn’t think he would ever live it down.

At Alda’s expectant look Loki finally relented, knowing that dragging the whole thing out would only make it worse. They’d broken the shaft off, leaving the arrowhead where it was, which he rather regretted now as the fabric of his pants caught slightly on the corners of it even knowing that it was the thing to do with such a wound. Alda examined the wound, completely oblivious to his discomfort at the situation, then used her seidr to pull the arrowhead out with as minimal damage as she could, pulling a slight hiss of pain from him, before getting to work with utmost efficiency.

Once she’d bandaged him up, she walked over to one the shelves along the walls and grabbed a small bottle before returning to him just as he finished hastily redressing, holding it out him. “For the pain.”

Loki looked between her and the bottle, not reaching for it. “I don’t feel-”

“You will.”

“I don’t need that,” he scoffed, “This is nothing; I have had worse.”

Alda’s jaw clenched a bit. “So have I, but only a fool suffers unnecessarily,” she retorted scoldingly.

He gaped slightly, in disbelief that she had actually just said that to him, before snatching the bottle out of her hand after Thor almost failed at suppressing another laugh, mumbling something that may have been a thank you.

“You are welcome. Now leave,” she shooed them away, to both their bemusement.

Eir passed them on the way out as she walked into the room to check on her niece’s patient, having been informed of the situation as soon as she returned to the palace but trusting her to do her job well as she tended to other patients in need, and looked after them for a moment. Once they were far enough away, she turned towards Alda.

“Do my ears deceive me; or did you just call Prince Loki a fool?”

Alda froze, eyes going wide, and she looked towards the door then back at Eir, who was only _just_ holding back her laughter at her niece’s expression. She had, of course, heard the sons of the Allfather described, but had not yet the occasion to actually see them face to face and so, in the rush to save Hogun’s life and the fact that they were both quite a bit battle-worn, she hadn’t really registered who they were.

“Auntie; please tell me I did not conscript the princes of the realm to assist me in surgery,” she pleaded.

“I’m afraid that is exactly what you did,” Eir replied amusedly.

Alda’s face reddened. “I did not just scold Prince Loki like a stubborn child.”

“You did that as well,” Eir confirmed, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing now. “And I am quite proud of you for it; the boy needs it every now and then.”

“Oh, Norns,” Alda groaned, burying her face in her hands.

Eir chuckled then turned to check on Hogun, offering much deserved praise to her apprentice for the work she’d done that the young woman barely registered in her mortification over her actions.

****

Loki almost didn’t return to the healers’ hall a week later, but quickly changed his mind when Thor threatened to go straight to Alda and tell her about his feelings for her. If she had to find out at all, he certainly did _not_ want it to be from his brother. Part of him was hoping she wouldn’t be there, not having checked beforehand, but part of him hoped she was just so he could get this over with. He truly hated that she could do that to him.

As he walked in, a healer went up to him. “Ah, Prince Loki, we have been expecting you,” she said pleasantly enough, though there was something in her eyes he didn’t quite like. Something like amusement, almost. She pointed towards a side door, “Just through there.”

As he walked into the room in question, he almost groaned in frustration; there with her back to him was Alda quietly doing inventory, and he cursed the Norns, the healer who directed him there, and the bastard who’d put an arrow through him all in one thought. He considered turning around and demanding someone else attend him, but that felt too much like admitting defeat and, dammit, he was not going to cower away from a silly infatuation he should have done something about ages ago. And so, he cleared his throat, and watched with some amusement as Alda nearly jumped out of her skin with a shriek and whirled around.

“Ah! Y-your Highness!” she stammered, her expression a mixture of surprise and fright that he really did not like to see on her at all.

“… I am here to have these bandages removed,” Loki prompted when she made no further move.

“Right! Come in, over here, then,” she indicated to the sole cot in the room.

It was no less awkward this time around, Loki discovered, having to half undress so she could see to the now-healed wound, though he had purposefully chosen to wear a longer tunic to preserve the modesty he barely cared about around anyone else precisely for that reason. Thankfully, Alda was as quick and efficient as ever, and he didn’t have to suffer it for long. He was intending to make a hasty exit as she updated his chart, when she brushed his arm with her fingers before hastily pulling back as he stopped and turned to her.

“Your Highness, I wish to apologise for last week,” she explained, not quite meeting his eyes, “The way I spoke to you was… terribly improper. And also for, well, ordering you and Prince Thor to assist me before.” Her cheeks turned crimson with embarrassment. “To my utmost shame I… did not know that you were, well… you.”

“You-…? How could you not know that?” Loki asked incredulously, and perhaps a bit indignantly. It was not as though he and Thor were easy to mistake, after all.

“Well, we had never met face to face before, and you both looked like you’d been dragged backwards through Muspelheim!” Alda snapped defensively before clapping her hands over her mouth.

Loki blinked at her for a moment then he started to laugh, and then _laugh,_ laughing so hard he had to lean back against a shelf behind him to stay upright. Alda stood frozen for a moment then began to giggle a bit, his laughter proving infectious, and it wasn’t long before they were both laughing.

“Well, that might be the most flattering way I have ever been described,” Loki said amusedly when they could finally stop laughing, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

“I am so sorry,” Alda replied breathlessly, arms holding her aching sides, “It just came out.”

He shook his head. “No apologies necessary, my lady; I have not laughed that hard in weeks.” He stood up straight and decided to take a chance. “Although if you are set on it, perhaps you could join me for a drink sometime?”

Alda blinked. “Oh. I… Well, I am terribly flattered, but… I am afraid I’m not much of a drinker.”

His face fell a bit but he nodded. “Fair enough. I apologise for my forwardness, I meant no offence.”

“No, I… I am not offended,” she quickly reassured, “I truly just do not drink very much.” She smiled a tad shyly. “But I would not mind sharing a lunch?”

Loki brightened up at that. “Lunch, then. Have you ever been to the Allmother’s gardens?”

“I cannot say I have had the occasion.”

“Then we shall take it there. Is tomorrow too soon?”

Alda made a bit of a face. “I cannot; tomorrow my aunt wishes to evaluate what I have learned. But I am free the day after.”

Loki nodded his understanding. “In two days, then. I will meet you at the gates?”

“I look forward to it, Your Highness,” Alda replied with a slight curtsey.

Loki bowed a bit then left the room, passing by Eir on his way out of the healer’s hall, who gave him a slight knowing smile that made his cheeks colour a bit. Still, his spirits were high, and he could almost thank the enemy who’d shot an arrow at him.

Well, almost.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment? I live off of external validation. And occasionally pizza. But mostly external validation.


End file.
